9/11/01

 

That day - September 11, 2001, was a Tuesday, just like today. I don't know about the rest of the country, but the morning dawned beautifully here in the eastern US - sunny, not at all hot or humid, and you might have even felt a little touch of fall coming on.

Until the attacks, the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, the downed flight in Pennsylvania, and then the day took on a bitter, stunning taste.

I'm fully aware that people just beginning their high school days were born after that awful day, so everything they know about it comes from oral or written history.  It's really hard to put into words what 9/11 meant - means - to this country, but for the benefit of those young ones who were not even here or those old ones who forgot this, let me talk a minute about what happened directly afterwards.

And I'm not talking about the runup to invading other countries or the sense of security that was lost and the fear of opening letters out of concern for anthrax poisoning.  All that happened, and can be read about in books.

But you never see this written about: There was a (sadly short-lived) period when America, having seen so many good people lost on that one unspeakable day, had a sense of goodness and charity.  You saw people letting others pass in traffic or come out of side streets, you saw people smile at each other in the post office or gas station, you saw people stop to pass a kind word in the office, you saw a recurrent sense of real patriotism, and you saw people just being kind, and making a difference for others.

It happened. It was a shame that such brutality was the spur for such generosity of spirit, and also a shame that the flame burned out so quickly, but it did happen for a while and it can happen again if we all decide we want it to.